September 24, 2014 1st John Chapter 4

1st John Chapter 4

Originally posted Thursday November 20, 2008

1st John, Chapter 4:1-6 Testing the Spirits

John has given two indicators which offer tangible verification that the believer knows and continues to abide in God: practicing self-giving love (3:16-17) and obeying the commandments to believe "in the name of...Jesus" (Jesus as Messiah/Christ) and to love one another (3:23). The first is witnessed through acts of love and the second by public confession of faith. Above both of these is a third witness to mutual indwelling of believer and God, "the Spirit that [God] has given..." (3:24). John develops the work/witness of this Spirit in the first passage of Chapter four. While we would typically entitle this Spirit as the Holy Spirit, John has introduced a more complex understanding with the unique use of the "Paraclete" (2:1). Taken from the Johannine tradition - and frequently encountered in John's Gospel, The Paraclete not only represents Christ, he is the Spirit of Christ in the Church. In John's Gospel Jesus says that when he is gone another Paraclete will come "to be with [the disciples] forever" (Jhn. 14:16).

The Paraclete is more than an advocate before God. He is the "anointing...[that] teaches...all things" mentioned in 2:27. He is also the reminder and revealer mentioned in Jhn. 14:25-26. Jesus was the first Paraclete who brought the revelation of God and taught the disciples all they needed to know of God. This Spirit is also called the Spirit of Truth because it bears witness that the truth of God is or is not abiding in the person professing that it does (Jhn. 15:26).

John warns the believers of the possibility of false spirits speaking through those who make false claims denying Jesus as God's Messiah. In Jewish and Greek cosmology there were many spirits - elemental spirits, good and evil, angelic and demonic. These spirits spoke through human beings. In John's understanding of the work of the Paraclete/Spirit of Christ, the spirit speaking through preaching/prophecy can be tested. The believer in whom the Spirit of Christ abides can discern whether or not a spirit is of God or of the devil. The test is an elaboration on what John has said about those who have denied that Jesus is the heavenly Messiah. Now it depends on a confession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah who has come "in the flesh" from God. Those who make such a confession are "of God;" those who do not are not of God (4:3). The false prophets - the antichrists, are not of God. John's faithful communities who have not broken fellowship are. This may seem somewhat fantastic to us but for John it is impossible for anyone in whom the Spirit abides to curse (deny) Jesus as Messiah in the flesh.  It is just as impossible for anyone in whom the Spirit does not abide to say that Jesus has come as Messiah in the flesh (see 1 Cor. 12:3). To the point, John declares that whether the message is or is not of God depends on confessing as true or rejecting the teaching that Jesus is God's Messiah sent from heaven and in the flesh. Of course, what is not of God is of the devil, the false prophets/antichrists.

The discerning Christians are not to be concerned about these evil spirits for the Spirit in the believer is greater than the spirit "who is in the world" (the devil). The believer who possesses the Spirit of and from God has the advantage. In the real situation of some Christians having broken fellowship based on the question of Jesus' Messiahship, John writes that the fact of their refusal to listen to him is an expression of their not being of God. They speak and act with a spirit of error.

It may be difficult for us to relate to John's line of thinking regarding spirits of truth and error as he decides who is in and who is out of the Spirit. He wrote from a position of authority, knowing (in his own traditions) what was of God and what was not. We may be certain of our own understanding of God, Christ and the content of the Christian life. To the degree to which we are secure in our certainty we can accept what is "truth" and not truth, of value and not of value "for us" but not for anyone else. We may come to know through our regular study, discussion and reflection with others what for us constitutes being a Christian. Yet we might want to keep in mind the variety of backgrounds and spiritual histories that inform the thinking of others. We might want to do more than keep this in mind. We may want to listen, measure and compare. Who knows what insights are available and helpful in the traditions and spiritual experiences of others?

1st John, Chapter 4:7-21 God is Love

There are two spiritual truths held together in John's faith - a cause and effect. They are "God is love" and God sent Jesus into the world on our behalf. God's love is the cause of the sending and Christ's appearing is the effect. This passage is about these two truths upon which John bases his understanding of the world - present and future.

Our mutual love is rooted in God, the author of love. To love is to be born of God who loved us first. God's love is revealed in Christ with the gift to us of new life which he preached and for which he died. The measure of God's love is to be the measure of our love one for the other. Because God abides in us, God's love is perfected in and through us. Perfect love overcomes any fear of the future for we belong to God. If we cannot love and be the expression of God's love in the lives of those whom we see in our midst how can we say we love the God we cannot see? 

Reading this passage should give us pause as we consider the meaning of a God who loves. Just how do we know that God loves? We all have heard the saying "God loves you and so do I." Well, how does God love you and how do I love you? And are the two somehow interrelated? As John might put it, to say we love another without a tangible demonstration of that love is of little value. To say that God loves someone without a similar expression of that love is just as much of an empty platitude as when we say the same. Granted there are times when simple words are meaningful expressions of love. They are a reminder of our devotion and closeness to another - a spouse or child or friend. Certainly how we speak to others with kindness and gentleness can be an expression of love. Some believe showering gifts on another proves their love for the other. Material gifts are fine but we do not want to miss the simpler treasures we can share: sending a card, placing a phone call or a visit to someone who needs to be connected.

It is said that God needs nothing. Consider this: if God needs nothing then we cease to have meaning and speaking of a God who loves becomes an absurdity. We live in a world wracked with devastating hatreds, injustice, hunger, pestilence, despoiling of the environment and grinding oppression. Do we think this is the world God wants for humanity? If God is love why has that love not transformed God's world? Why indeed! Maybe God does need something. Maybe God's need is our purpose. Maybe our purpose - what brings a measure of meaning to living, is to be the living expressions of God's love in the world. Mother Teresa said that her work among the poor in India was like a drop of water in the ocean; but the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.